Students, parents get better informed on emerging fields

Over 2,000 students took part in ‘Eduverse Jnana Degula 2017,’ the premier education expo organised by DH and Prajavani. On the first day of the two-day event, students learned about career opportunities in new and emerging fields, and attended pre-counselling sessions by officials of Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) and Comed-K.

Parents and students got an opportunity to interact with representatives of participating institutions at the 65 stalls. M N Vidyashankar, former additional chief secretary, department of commerce and industries, and president of India Electronics and Semiconductor Association, delivered the inaugural address.

He enlightened parents and students about relatively new fields which will gain relevance in the near future.

Besides conventional choices like computer science and information technology, students can opt for new specialisations such as data analytics and cyber security. Known fields like civil engineering are also back in demand, he said.

“There was a time when demand for civil engineering had declined and colleges even stopped offering the course. Today, there is a shortage of qualified civil engineers and the demand is back,” he said.

Vidyashankar told students about the need to update their skills in a job landscape which is constantly changing.

Streams like medicine and commerce are as relevant as always because of shortage of manpower, he said, and pointed out that the paramedical field, too, has a lot of potential. Vidyashankar explained the opportunities that open up to students with a law degree. “India is becoming a hub for knowledge process outsourcing. The legal work behind many international cases, be it in North America or Europe, is done by experts in India. Environmental law is also a growing field,” he said.

In the next few years, India will have a huge demand for data scientists to make sense of data generated on a day-to-day basis. Cyber security, information security, ethical hacking and robotics are also areas of expertise which the country will need in the next few years, he said.

Vidyashankar said humanities was an under-explored field. “For example, if you are an expert in foreign languages, you can have a rewarding career as a translator. When delegates from foreign countries like China come to India, it is crucial to have someone who can understand their language, for communication and negotiation.”